


alone at the end of the universe (humming a tune)

by far2late



Series: dream sweet in sea major [1]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Angst, Angst and Humor, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Bounty Hunters, Clay | Dream-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Human Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Hunters & Hunting, Hurt Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Hurt/Comfort, Hybrid Badboyhalo, Hybrid Jack Manifold, Hybrid Niki | Nihachu, Hybrid Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Hybrid Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Hybrid Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Hybrid Toby Smith | Tubbo, Hybrid TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Hybrid Wilbur Soot, Hybrids, Injury, Magic, Magical Realism, Major Character Injury, Realistic Minecraft, Sympathetic Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Touch-Starved Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Trauma, manhunt!dream
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-12 18:28:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29389143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/far2late/pseuds/far2late
Summary: "The Hunters were under the impression that he had murdered an Enderian and managed to get a trail of something magic on him, marking him out to be hunted by the rest of their brethren to avenge their ‘fallen soul.’It was incredibly wrong, and the first time Dream had heard the explanation he wanted to laugh. Then Sapnap had swung a sword almost directly into his neck, so he quickly shut up and got away."orseventeen-year-old dream stumbles upon a haven and makes himself a home.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Jack Manifold, Clay | Dream & Niki | Nihachu, Clay | Dream & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Toby Smith | Tubbo, Clay | Dream & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Wilbur Soot, Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF) & Everyone
Series: dream sweet in sea major [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2158896
Comments: 22
Kudos: 380





	alone at the end of the universe (humming a tune)

**Author's Note:**

> twt is @far2early, follow to hear me yell about manhunt dream :]

Dream’s footsteps thudded against the ground harshly as he landed on the toes of his feet, netherrack scraping horribly against the steel tips of his boots. 

Behind him, he could hear yelling and jeering, mostly taunting him and giving quick orders and information about where the teen was heading. It would have been enough to make anxiety course through his veins if it weren’t for the fact that he was already used to the Hunters and their antics. That didn’t make them any less terrifying, but he had gotten used to their presence over the course of a year of being chased by them.   
  
Dream wasn’t one to give up easily, so the fact that their chase had been extended to such an amount wasn’t as much of a surprise to him. It was expected more than anything, at least from him. He kept learning new ways to avoid the group of them and make sure they wouldn’t be able to get anywhere near him should they even try and catch up. Of course, he was at a bit of a disadvantage when they had two hybrids on their side while he was just one on his own, but he tried his best nonetheless. 

He wasn’t even really a real hybrid if he was being honest. Only a human that had been cursed to look like one, face covered up by a mask so he didn’t show his incriminating features to the mainland where Enderians weren’t as readily welcomed as the rest of them. His face was a splatter of black particles on the left side, eyes holding flecks of violet in them that would have left him more Enderian than human. Not to mention the inhumane accent that came with his words as a side effect of the teeth he had grown, black fangs that felt too light in his mouth. 

  
None of the perks of being an Enderian came with it, though none of the cons came with it either. All he had was a bigger marker for him to grab attention with and teeth that were foreign to work with. The Hunters were under the impression that he had murdered an Enderian and managed to get a trail of something magic on him, marking him out to be hunted by the rest of their brethren to avenge their ‘fallen soul.’ 

It was incredibly wrong, and the first time Dream had heard the explanation he wanted to laugh. Then Sapnap had swung a sword almost directly into his neck, so he quickly shut up and got away. Never had a chance to explain his side of the story, nor how he got the faint inkling of magic on him despite being found as a human at first. It was annoying, and most inconvenient when it came to just letting himself sleep for a bit. The trail worked as some sort of beacon for his location, never safe from the group of them despite going underground or high into the sky or disguising himself. 

Over time, the chasing had gotten less fun and more terrifying, more painful and more torturous for him to endure. Dream’s been through more pillager raids than he can count, looted more villages than he can apologize for, lost more pets than he could ever name off, even though every little companion’s label was burnt into his head. His favourite was most likely the pod of dolphins that he had travelled with after clinging onto the back of a motherly-looking one who floated beneath his half-dead body, taking him to shore. 

It was something out of a play if Dream was going to compare it to anything. Things he had heard in stories that made him remember when he had been a kid, sitting alone in his bedroom as he read himself to sleep, parents working late in fields and at the Blacksmith’s. He remembered the feeling of moonlight on his skin and feeling free as he sat in a tree high up, wind filtering through pine needles as he sat with his back pressed against the trunk, humming to himself as his walkman played happy little tunes in his ears. 

Dream had lost that walkman a long time ago, and the joy that came with it as well. He didn’t remember the last time he had felt like a kid when he had been in the presence of the Hunters, the last year of his life looking to be living hell. The only thing that had kept him going was rumoured myths of a safe haven for anyone who was looking for it. Something about a stronghold and a mystic lake of magic tears that would hear the pure desires of whatever soul may need help and give it to them for an exchange of blood and a bit of their hearts. 

  
He never knew if it was true or not, of course. Myths had their limits and he knew that there was very little he could rely on, but stories from his parents had him convinced of the existence of something magical in the world he lived in that could save him. That and the odd look in his mother’s eyes as he mentioned that particular story to her. Dream never noticed it as a child, but it was the only thing that kept him going now. 

Dream had gotten himself cornered in the Nether quite a while ago, at least three days now. He was getting parched, running out of water half-way through the second day when he had to sacrifice a bit for his potions to keep himself from being attacked by Blazes the second he tried to hide out in a Nether fortress. It was another example of an inconvenient measure he had to take because of the stupid stench of magic that had clung to him like a koala to a tree. That, and the wound in his leg that had steadily been bleeding out after a Hoglin nearly impaled him had been hindering his progress.

He took a deep, gasping breath as he landed in a roll, jumping down to the exposed bridge of a Nether fortress. Dream jumped past the wither skeleton, slow and clumsy arms swinging a stone sword at him that reeked of Withering disease. He held back the urge to yelp, simply ducking under and running past it to turn the corner of the structure, throwing open a stray chest to find nothing in it. He cursed, lungs burning as Dream got up to look around wildly, seeing if he could find anything else in the vicinity while the Hunters were still at least a minute away. 

  
The teen paused as he caught sight of something in the distance. He would have missed it with how small it was if it weren’t for the fact that it was a small structure standing up amid a Red forest. As the voices of the Hunters grew louder behind him, the group of them sounding joyfully murderous, Dream made the decision to leave the fortress behind, going towards the small structure and hoping that it had something that would help. 

  
As he made his way slowly closer, he realized with surprise that it was a pre-built Nether portal. Dream could see the twisting black stone that was unmoving, rooted into the ground and holding wisps of violet folds amid the shining obsidian. He scrambled over the rocky terrain of the netherrack, hands curling into rocks and shards of quarts that made his hands slick and red and bloody. Dream’s pants came in short puffs as he tripped over roots, going through the vines and getting them caught on his arms and staining his sweater crimson. 

He could hear the Hunters behind him, growing closer and closer as panic made its way up to his chest and clawed at his throat. The teen’s eyes widened as he practically leaped into the Nether portal, standing still as he attempted to hold himself up before he collapsed. His leg burned and his breaths became much more unsteady after he stopped, letting the world turn to a dizzying black. 

A moment later and he opened his eyes to find himself in a dimly lit cave system, two chests lined up nearby the portal and a small stone staircase leading to above ground. Dream took in everything quickly, remembering the Hunters that would follow him and hesitated before he looked through the chests. His eyes widened at the expensive materials that laid inside, hands shaking a bit as he ghosted over a few diamonds. Dream pulled his hands back, instead opting to take a pair of shears that had been left inside and tucking it into his backpack. 

His hands were so bloody that they were going numb, Dream had noticed. His eyes widened as he realized that he had left bloodstains on the chests and the walls that he had balanced on. He ripped his hands away before he ran up the stone stairs that had been carved out in the depths of the ground. Dream’s hands shook as he made his way up, not even daring to grab at an axe in case he would end up dropping it from his unfeeling fingers. 

The teen burst out from the ground a moment later, finding himself to be in the Overworld during the night. The land held an aura to it that he didn’t know how to deal with, nor stop to recognize if it was a friendly or evil one. There was simply no time, and he had to hope that whatever lands he had stumbled upon were friendly to his soul rather than ripping it from his body and leaving him a grayed-out husk of what he used to be. 

He weaved through the trees as rain poured from the skies, leg aching as water seeped into the wound on his thigh. Dream ignored the pain, letting himself go numb to the feeling as he ran across muddied dirt. His hands hit the bark of trees as he tried to keep himself steady, the sting from it making him stay awake at the same time. 

Eventually, he hit an open bit of a meadow, flowers growing up to his knees with grass swaying in the worst of the storm. Dream could hardly handle the pain anymore, staying upright out of pure spite. He nearly cried as he spotted a light in the distance. 

The closer he got to the light, the blearier his mind grew. Dream’s eyes widened as he realized the blue glow came from the lagoon amid a circle of flowers, the rain pattering across the surface of the lake and distorting the water. The teen’s hands were shaking as he made a slow gesture to the water, stumbling to the edge of the lake and letting him fall onto his knees in the sand of the shore. 

He could hardly believe his eyes, let alone his mind as his head spun with tales that he had heard from his parents, of a safe haven he had been searching for. Dream was willing to give up anything for safety, for a bit of rest, even if it was a bit of his soul or his heart or his mind or anything that made him what he was. Dream pressed his bloodied hands into the sand, mouth opening in an open sob as his palms burned. 

“ _Please_ ,” He gasped out, pressing his forehead to the sand and letting it press to his sweat-soaked hair. The mask kept his face from getting dirty, gasping for air as his hand tightened into a fist, ignoring the pain that came from it. Dream didn’t hear footsteps far away from him, nor did he see the Merling swim up from the cerulean waves that had rippled with magic and the oozing aura of love. 

The waves rippled as a hand reached out to an unseeing body, who was whispering quietly, pleads and prayers confessed into the ground with his mask pressed to the sand. Dream’s hands were white-hot with pain as he breathed in desperate gasps of air that wouldn’t come and reminisced deliriously on his parents’ old stories. He remembered the lake of soul magic and protection from his dreams and childhood and for a moment he let himself believe that he was lucky enough to stumble upon it. 

Dream didn’t consider the fact that it was a regular lake, nor did he consider the fact that the Hunters followed after him. None of his previous concerns registered as he shuddered out a last, gasping breath before going still. 

All he registered was the feeling of blood seeping out of his leg and his palms burning and his mind slipping from consciousness before he let himself collapse onto his side, blackening out as pain took over his mind and let himself rest for the first time in a year.

**Author's Note:**

> hello i am so excited for this au please read and tell me what u think tell me what u want to see while i froth at the mouth over manhunt dream and how much i love him :] also again twt is @far2early feel free to drop a follow im abt to hit three digits


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